Conventional radio communication methods and radio communication devices for performing ad hoc communication include those disclosed in JP-A-2003-229869. FIG. 20 shows a radio communication method described in JP-A-2003-229869.
In FIG. 20, a radio communication device sets a notification cycle of management information at a predetermined time interval and transmits management information in which reception timing information indicating a start position for receiving it own information, reception window information, and reception cycle information are written. Another radio communication device which could receive the management information associates it with a communication device number of the applicable radio communication device and stores the reception timing, the reception window and the reception cycle. When transmitting information, the reception start position of the correspondent communication device is found from the reception timing, the reception window and the reception cycle of the correspondent node, and information is sent at the timing.
However, in the above conventional method, a reception window for receiving transmission requests is designated, and therefore there is a problem that transmission requests from plural radio communication devices are concentrated in the reception window and the possibility that the device cannot correctly receive the transmission request may increase.
Also, since communication requests or communication responses which are not addressed to the device do not coincide with its reception window, it cannot receive them. Therefore, there is a problem that the device cannot know time slots of the extended reception windows in which other radio communication devices receive data, and as a result, possibility that the device transmits data at such time slots may increase.